After the reception of last chapter, this one might just make some butts clench.

For Zelda, the next few days seemed to go by in a surreal blur. She walked around the castle, she ate her meals, but she remained deathly silent and didn't acknowledge anyone - not even Poe who tried to speak with her. Her mind had shut down; she didn't want to think, because all thinking ever seemed to do lately was bring her grief. Even when she'd heard about the newest murder and the identity of the victim, she didn't dwell on it. And when she'd heard rumors spreading amongst the staff of monsters treading into Hyrulean territory, she didn't dwell on it. All the thoughts were pushed out of her mind – she didn't need such negativity.

That's what she told herself anyways.

The truth was, there was no way she could escape any of what was going on. In her dreams, she had all sorts of new nightmares. Dreams of Moblins attacking Hyrule Town, of poor Shiro being cornered at the end of the alley he'd been found in… and of course, with a new face in her head, she had new nightmares of Vaati. They weren't like the one she now knew was a memory, nor like the one she'd had during severe fainting spell. She would have preferred those. The new nightmare was simply a reminder of what was going on – that the world all around her was falling apart and the only one she knew was telling the truth was the one who'd brought horror upon Hyrule thirty years previous.

After a week, she finally convinced herself that her attempts and numbly living out the rest of her life were not only implausible but downright silly. It was time to turn to the gods.

In the morning, she donned her riding dress and took her bow so she could visit the Temple. She was so used to being left alone and having the way cleared for her now, that the princess gloomily marched to the stables without expecting any disturbances. To her surprise, her father appeared as she was mounting Epona. Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, until she noticed the worry and pity in his eyes.

She was about to ride off, when he asked, "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Out where?"

Zelda frowned, but still did not face him again. "Just out."

"Be careful; stay away from-"

"I can handle myself," she snapped angrily. She couldn't stand knowing that her own father looked at her as if something was the matter with her. Not giving him any time to respond, she kicked the sides of her mare and sped out of the stables and into Hyrule Field. Zelda urged her mare to go as fast her legs could take them, wanting to get as far away from that pitying gaze and closer to what she hoped were answers in the Royal Valley.

The princess rode into the gloomy valley, finding that the spindly, black barked trees reminded her far too much of her unpleasant memory of the dreaded Sorcerer Vaati grabbing her with black claws. She thought with some disgust that such trees were likely an excellent place for his little Beholders to stalk. He'd been creeping around her for ten years, apparently; it wouldn't be surprising to her, but the thought still gave her chills.

The gravekeeper, Dampé, offered to watch Epona while she went into the Temple. She accepted, before heading off to the other side of the cemetery to enter a medium sized building of graying, white stone. The molding around the shoddy oak doors had carvings inset upon them, each carving corresponding to the symbol of one of the great goddesses. She entered, taking note of a leak from the ceiling and a couple of panes on the stained glass of the back window cracked and broken. Hazy light came in through said window, though the window was so foggy with years of unpolished neglect the light felt stuffy. When she was little, she remembered the building was so awe inspiring to her. Now she looked at it and couldn't help but feel sorry for its sorry, decaying state. With no clergy or nuns to upkeep the place, its care fell into Dampé, himself too old now to repair the place.

Nonetheless, she stepped up to the altar and knelt before it, silently sending up a prayer to Nayru, hoping that the goddess in her infinite wisdom would see fit to grant her guidance in her time of need. How could she convince her father she wasn't crazy? How could she rid the kingdom of the monsters encroaching upon it, or of the monster that roamed the streets of Hyrule Town and killed innocent men like Shiro? How could she be rid of Vaati, the sorcerer that had tried to achieve godhood through her mother?

But as she knelt and silently pleaded to the golden goddess, she felt nothing. She did not feel the divine grace of Nayru or any other god or goddess. There were no answers or ideas, divine or otherwise, coming into her mind. Yet she didn't lose hope that she would be inspired. She stood and went to one of the benches, sitting down and determining that she wouldn't leave the temple until she received an answer.

She heard the doors of the temple open and shut behind her. Curious, she looked back, not expecting anyone else would enter the dilapidated temple. Upon seeing the person who entered, however, her heart skipped a beat. Her posture straightening and her expression cold, she faced the altar again in her seat. Hopefully the goddesses were inspire her sooner rather than later.

Poe sat in the bench behind her.

"Spying for your master?" The princess asked, not hiding the venom in her voice.

"I'm actually following your father's orders this time," the traitor guard said simply.

"Whatever I say here is going straight to Vaati, regardless." She said angrily.

"Then why don't you tell someone?"

The girl pursed her lips angrily at the reminder of how hopeless her situation was. If she told someone, Poe could simply step in and say she had another breakdown. Unless she had proof of anything, which she didn't, telling anyone was pointless. "You know I can't. That's why you brought it up." She hissed.

"Sorry."

"I bet that's a lie too."

"It isn't."

Silence came over the temple again. Despite the betrayal she felt, she still wanted to find some shred of good in Poe. Quietly, she asked, "Have you ever tried to fight it?"

"At first."

"But not anymore." Zelda said with dread; it wasn't even a question.

"No, not anymore," Poe said, "Because I'm happy."

She looked over her shoulder at him, disbelief and disgust written on her face. It was incomprehensible to her how someone who was supposed to be loyal to Hyrule and its Royal Family could say such a thing as if it was the purest truth in the world. "How can you possibly be happy serving Vaati?"

Poe sighed, seemingly saddened by her outburst of incredulousness. He leaned back on the bench, staring at the ceiling, and finally said, "On your birthday, you mentioned you remembered me being hesitant to be a guardsman, but then one day it all changed. It all changed on that day." If she had anything to say, she quickly forgot it when Poe looked at her again. She had never seen the man look so serious, nor did she even have to question the day he was speaking of in question. "I never wanted to be a guard, Princess. I never set any goals for myself – everything was dull. I'm convinced that if the Master didn't enthrall me that day, if he hadn't given me a purpose, I might've stuck a blade in my heart long ago."

She was stunned at such a confession, but her face hardened quickly and she retorted, "But you're a slave! Surely there's a better purpose than that?"

Again, he gave her that sorrowful, disappointed look. "Call it what you will, Princess. I'm not going to try and make you understand; I'm happy with this life." He smiled then, "If I'm a slave, then honestly, I think I've never been more free."

Struck speechless, she turned her head and simply faced the altar again. Zelda couldn't wrap her head around it. Such words had to be the result of such a lasting enthrallment. How could anyone say that being subservient to anyone else, especially one as infamous as Vaati, could be freedom? But then again, did she really know anything of freedom?

Her fists balled up in her skirt at the thought.

The princess was sure she knew. She had to. She rode Epona around the field, she took up bow training, and threw parties when the occasion called for it… But if your father had disapproved or said no to any of it, would I have done? Her father had known she skipped lessons, but he said nothing. If he had told her to stop, she would have listened. If her father disapproved of her learning the bow, she would have stopped. If her father had flat out refused a party, she would have cancelled any and all plans. Despite being labeled as Hyrule's "Willful, Wild Princess" she wasn't really either of those things. She did whatever she liked simply because she could get away with it, but if her father had ever told her to stop, she would have.

When it came down to it, she always listened to everything her father had said and told her to do. Could that be called freedom? Especially when her next birthday came around, and she would take the reins from her father… Then she really wouldn't be free. Not that she was now. Everyone thought she was crazy.

Her heart sank, and confusion again began to fill her mind. She tried to focus on the statues of the goddesses behind the altar, pleading for Nayru to clear her mind and impart wisdom upon her. But there was no response from the goddess.

Earlier, she had told herself she wouldn't leave the temple until she received some sort of divine intervention. Now she wanted nothing more than to leave. Poe simply happily hummed in the bench behind her, a reminder that despite his subservience to an evil creature, he still felt as if he was free. And she, who was free in the typical sense of the world, felt like she was the sole exhibit in some menagerie as people watched and whispered of the troubled princess…

Abruptly, Zelda stood and walked out of the Temple hastily. She didn't bother to see if Poe was following her as she took the reins of Epona back from Dampé. She rode the mare out of the Royal Valley at a gallop, not paying any mind to the direction she led the horse. What this would accomplish, she had no idea.

But as soon as she'd finally reached some sort of meditative state upon her mare's back, Epona screeched in fright and suddenly swerved opposite of Zelda's direction. The girl held tightly to her horse, looking around in a panic as to why the horse had such a reaction. The answer made her want to screech as she saw two Moblin scouts rush out of a thicket with their bows pointed right at her. But she didn't, instead taking control of the mare again and having her swerve in a zig zag as she tried to look around and get her bearings. In retrospect, it was a terrible idea to ride wildly without paying attention to where one was going. But seeing as there was only one wooded area near the Royal Valley, she knew she was in the Western Wood.

She heard the wooshes of arrows fly past her and gritted her teeth. The Western Wood was not a good place to encounter Moblins. She mentally chided herself for losing herself in her emotions and just rushing off when she knew perfectly well that Moblins had wandered back into the kingdom. The Moblins were supposed to be near Mount Crenel, not the Western Wood. She thought hastily. But if she didn't get out of the Western Wood quick, she wouldn't be able to scold herself any further. Zelda needed to find a way out of the forest, and she had to confess she didn't know these woods very well compared to the Minish Woods. She kept riding, sloppily taking her bow from its holster on her saddle. She saw an opening between the trees and sped ever closer to it before a Moblin jumped out from behind the trees and blocked her path.

She already had an arrow at the ready, but couldn't aim well in all the movement. She'd never practiced her archery while riding and was unable to easily understand the effect the bob of the saddle added to her aim. Epona whinnied in protest as they kept nearing the Moblin, who stood stock still with a spear at the ready. Before the spear was in reaching distance, she let the arrow loose. It whizzed through the air, hitting the Moblin in its arm and causing it to howl out in pain and drop its weapon. She'd been aiming for its heart, but she supposed that would do as well.

Epona sped past the beast, and the princess had hoped that she was now home-free, only to see with dread that she was faced with a wall of trees; there was no gap big enough for a girl on a horse to stumble through. She quickly turned the horse around, but the mare was now in a panic and being unruly to guide. When the horse had turned all the way around, the sight before them had been the last straw for the equine. A Moblin archer and two Moblin spearbearers were blocking out the narrow gap between the trees.

Epona shrieked, backing on her hand legs and sending the princess sprawling to the ground painfully. Zelda pushed herself up and tried to ignore the pain all over her body. She struggled trying to focus her vision, and suddenly remembered that those Moblins were likely still near. She scrambled up, taking her bow on the ground and an arrow that had scattered on the grass. The girl held up her bow, arrow nocked and at the ready. Epona, she saw, had sped off in a wild charge past the Moblins, with one of the three beasts (likely the injured one they'd passed before) had gone off to follow her. The two that remained had both their sets of menacing eyes upon her. The spearbearer held out its weapon before it, ready to go at her if necessary. But with the archer nearby, it apparently felt no need to immediately act.

The princess set her sights on the archer, trying to map out her possibilities. She could shoot the archer, but with only one arrow, what would she do with the one with the spear? She could try running, but with a dress on, even a riding dress, the creature would catch up to her. For the briefest of moments, she cast her eyes downward quickly. To her relief, there were more arrows scattered upon the grass. She didn't think further. She loosed her arrow and immediately ducked down, some measure of relief coming over her as she heard a howl followed by a thud upon the grass. Zelda scooped up another arrow quickly and readied it, turning her torso but not her legs so she was aiming at where she last remembered the next Moblin to be. It was coming towards her at alarming speed now, but she kept her composure, aimed, and let the arrow free.

Right in its head.

It fell down as if it'd hit a brick wall.

The girl had no idea that she'd been holding her breath until a wave of relief came over her and she exhaled. Her hands shook wildly, and she let herself fall on her bottom before a chuckle came to her lips. The chuckle soon turned into laughter, and before she knew it, she was rolling in the glass in a fury of hilarity. Tears stung her face, she was laughing so hard.

She had nearly been killed. Why that was so funny to her, she'd no clue. But she was alive. She could laugh about it, and that was all that mattered.

But in her laughter, her head tilted back on the grass, giving her an upside down view of the trees and…

Her laughter immediately stopped. She rolled around quickly and scrambled up. No, the princess was sure her eyes had not deceived her. Sitting lazily upon a tree branch was the Sorcerer of Winds himself. She could have sworn that she had been alone, but it looked as if he'd been there the whole time… Had he? Had he set her up? She quickly picked up another arrow and readied her bow again.

But the mage seemed unconcerned by the display, instead staring out into the distance as if looking for something. "That idiot was supposed to keep an eye on you."

"What?"

"Poe. I very nearly repeated the orders your father gave to him." Vaati sounded bored, but he looked at her this time. "I suppose it's a good thing you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself."

"What are you speaking about?!" She cried out angrily.

He smirked at her, an expression she had the feeling he wore quite often. "Am I willing to guess you think I sent those things after you? I didn't."

"Then why didn't you help me?" Zelda snapped, wishing her fingers would loose that arrow and strike true. "You could have stepped in anytime you wanted!"

"I could have…" He conceded, "But I told you before. I wanted to get to know you better, Princess – in this case, I wanted to see what you would do. How capable is Hyrule's princess? I was curious. And besides, even if I did step in, you wouldn't appreciate it."

As infuriating an answer as it was, she had to admit that his later point, yet again, was valid. Even so, she was still incredibly puzzled. "What are you trying to accomplish?" She asked unhappily.

"I'm trying to accomplish quite a few things; but just as you don't trust me, why should I expect to trust you?"

His answer just made her even angrier. Why did he always have to have the last word? Sorely tempted to send the arrow flying right him, she became distracted at the sound of rapid hoofbeats nearing. She turned quickly, bow poised and ready to strike at any new foes. Her mood simply became sourer upon seeing Poe on his grey approaching. The princess wasn't sure who she wanted to point her arrow at now, but she kept it aimed on the biggest threat of the mage.

"What are you doing?!" Asked the shocked Poe. The only time she'd seen his eyes bugging out so much before was when he had accidentally put a knife to her neck. "What even happened here?!"

"Your gracious master isn't very chivalrous." She said angrily.

Her comment apparently inspired a bark of laughter from Vaati, "Poe, you've never told me the girl has such a mouth on her!"

She focused her glare back on Vaati and snarled, "Like you wouldn't know, keeping those Beholders by my door!"

"I have better things to do than constantly watch you; if my pets happen to pass by your balcony, I assure you, they're on their way to handle something else. Now I'd love to stay and chat, but you seem to be in a bit of a foul mood and I'm quite busy." The mage responded simply. Yet before Zelda could respond, the mage picked himself up and balanced himself on his tree branch, looked at Poe and said, "My curiosity's been sated; but really, do keep more of a closer watch on her. It doesn't do anyone any sort of good if she's captured by Moblins."

"Yes, Master! A thousand apologies, Master!" Poe nodded quickly.

Zelda looked to the guardsman with disgust at his groveling. But when she'd looked back to where Vaati had been, the sorcerer had vanished. She scowled, but lowered her bow, her arms feeling stringy then from how long she'd held the arrow taut. Despite that, she was still ready to pull it back if necessary at Poe. But the guardsman just smiled at her from atop his grey. "I think it's about time you got home, Princess."

"I'll walk, thank you." She answered spitefully and she had begun to walk past him.

"Princess… I… I'm still the same." He sounded like a little boy, the way he said it. Against her better judgment, she paused and looked back at him. Immediately, she regretted it. It looked as if she had just crushed him, and seeing her turn back had given him some sort of hope. He edged the grey forward a little bit, "I'm the same Poe you've known. Why does the fact that I serve Master Vaati change anything?"

The smart thing to do, she knew, was to simply keep walking. But didn't she at least owe him something? He'd been a brother to her, even if it was all just a lie. "Because I don't know you."

"But you do!"

"And you've lied to me!" She shouted. "You told the same lies as my father and you've worked for the enemy the whole time!"

"Then I promise I won't. I swear I won't!" He said determinedly. "I swear. Please, princess… you're my only friend." A heavy silence filled the air before the guard couldn't take it anymore and sputtered out, "I'll… I'll never lie to you again! You could ask me anything!"

And that was what shocked Zelda, as she saw a sincerity in Poe's face she'd never seen before.

"I want you to know that while my brother and I may not be close, I know that any affection he has for you is real."

Had Gibdo been right in that aspect then? Did Poe really value her friendship? Or was this all some sort of elaborate trick… She didn't know what to think. Everything was just so complicated and confusing now. She was sick of it. And the goddesses had certainly provided her with no answers. She pursed her lips, unsure of what to say or do… But she finally gave in. She wanted to believe in something – anything. He was working for the enemy… but Poe was still her best friend.

"Will I get a straight answer if I ask you anything?" She asked, wishing her voice didn't betray her mental exhaustion.

Poe grinned, "As straight as an arrow."

He was probably still lying, she knew. "I'll think about it…" Yet despite the answer, she walked towards him, took his offered hand, and struggled onto the grey behind him. She held onto her friend, as he sped the horse forward and they made their way back to Hyrule Castle.

There was a commotion waiting for them as they returned. Epona had run back safely to the stables, leaving everyone in a panic over the missing princess. They were relieved to see the princess return with Poe, but questions arose. Zelda simply said something startled the mare and she took a tumble, nothing more; Poe backed her up. There were insistences that she visit the physician, but she dismissed them, instead doing what she normally did most days – hole up in her room silently.

Poe attended to the grey he'd taken out, allowing the princess to have the time to think she so desired. Occasionally, someone would ask him how the princess fell, and he'd answer in the most vague but believable way possible. Soon, it was just Poe in the stable, trying to figure out where any of these horse riding things went. Or at least he had thought he had been by himself.

Gibdo approached his younger brother, saying proudly, "For all that used to gripe about it, you do certainly look after the princess."

"I'm doing my job as a servant," Poe said simply, trying to figure out how on earth he managed to tangle all those leather straps.

The elder brother lingered awkwardly around his younger brother, before finally saying, "I know the princess was looking for you the other day."

That caught Poe's attention. He glanced at the other guard, but then returned his attention to detangling the leather straps. "She was?"

"Yes. She seemed very adamant about speaking with you; she was very anxious and stressed." Gibdo responded. The elder brother figured that the princess would have told her best friend about her impromptu visit to find him. "She seemed to be quite upset about something."

"She got mad at me for lying to her," Poe said with a shrug.

The elder guard's expression suddenly went steely as he recalled his own conversation with the princess and her suspicions. "Lying?"

Poe sensed the accusatory edge to his brother's voice. He looked away from his detangling to frown at Gibdo. "Yes, lying. The same lie that everyone's been telling her – pretending like everything's fine when that mad killer's on the loose."

The two brothers continued to stare at each other coldly for a few seconds, until Gibdo gave his little brother an apologetic smile, "I suppose that secret couldn't be kept forever. You've made up with her?"

Satisfied, Poe returned to his detangling. "I dunno. I hope so."

His brother nodded, "I wish you the best there." There was another silence, this time fueled by the awkwardness of two distant brothers who didn't know how to properly end a conversation. The younger grunted something inaudible, the elder gave another stiff nod and then began to walk away.

Yet Gibdo, despite the goodwill he wished for his brother moments before, was quite disconcerted. No doubt the princess and Poe spoke, but certainly not about the subject that the princess had brought up with him a few days prior. The two clearly also still had some sort of rockiness between them as well. The older man began to wonder, then, about his brother. The princess, despite her mental troubles, surely wouldn't go around randomly accusing someone of a crime as grievous as treason without some sort of logic behind it. She certainly wouldn't accuse her best friend of it without a reason, anyways. And the elder brother continued to brush it off as nonsense… but the thought was already there.

Zelda, in the meantime, had sat by her desk and taken up Eros and Psyche again, trying to escape to literature and clear her mind. It didn't work too well, as the mentions of zephyrs kept reminding her of the horrid wind mage. Of all the things happening, he confused her most.

He claimed he meant her no harm; he only wished to better know her. The events of earlier in the day certainly had her contemplating that. Vaati was curious about her, but she felt as if he was curious about her in the way a snake was curious about a mouse. But she couldn't understand why. The Beholders had always hung around her, regardless of what Vaati said about them paying little mind to her. Surely he had to have some idea about her rather than just what Poe reported. And Poe was a variable in there that confused her about Vaati even more. Why have Poe as a thrall? To watch her, apparently?

A part of her wanted to say that perhaps Vaati wanted the Light Force and hoped to befriend her, trick her into it… But that was silly, as if he wanted to finish off whatever Light Force she'd inherited from her mother, he could've taken it from her as a child quite easily. So why even keep his freedom silent? And how was the seal still intact despite his escape? They were all stupid questions, she knew, as she should focus on resealing the mage herself… but she wanted answers as well. Especially answers to more important questions like, did he have anything to do with the monsters returning to Hyrule? Or perhaps even the murders?

Poe said he would answer anything she asked truthfully and straightforwardly. The princess wondered if that applied to any questions concerning the mage and his dubious intentions. Surely Vaati wouldn't approve of that. Or would he?

It was all incredibly confusing, because she simply didn't know anything about the mage really – only what her father and the histories said. She'd been so possessed of a fear of him, and rightly so if her memory was correct… but the last three times she'd encountered him, he'd been docile, albeit unpleasant. Perhaps he really is being truthful… And it was a sickening thought.

A knock on her door snapped her out of these grim thoughts, but did not improve her mod as her father responded when she asked who was there. Despite the fact she did not invite him in, he opened the door and gingerly stepped in anyways. He didn't stray much farther from a step or two from the door. She stayed seated at her desk, focused on her book, acting as if her father wasn't even there.

"I heard you fell off of Epona today?" He asked with seemingly simple curiosity.

She was going to keep her answers short and to the point. "I did."

"That's unusual; she's normally very calm around you."

"There is a first time for everything, father."

He winced ever so slightly at her distant address of him. "You're all right?"

"Just peachy." She flipped a page in the book before her.

Her father didn't say anything, but shuffled uncomfortably where he stood. Zelda again had begun to ignore him, even though it seemed he still had something else to say. When it became clear she wasn't going to acknowledge him, he finally said, "Holodrum will be sending another envoy soon. And we received news from Labrynna that they'll be sending their own party. Cole expects they'll be arriving within a few days of each other."

That was news that interested her. She lowered the book and glanced over to her father by her door. She couldn't read his face, but he'd taken the fact that she'd actually looked at him as a good sign and continued, "It's been a long time since our three nations have gathered in one place like this. It's business for everyone involved, but I was thinking, it's unusual to have three nations represented under one roof. Perhaps we should have a gala of some sort to honor our neighbors?"

Zelda felt her heart beating fast. It was a glimmer of her life before Vaati decided to barge in a ruin her reputation. She knew what her father was getting at – she'd shown interest in the politics of dealing with the neighboring countries, and she loved to go through the details of party planning. It was a chance for her to bounce back to some sort of normalcy. The hope that people wouldn't look at her like a loon. She tried to retain the steely calm she'd had before, despite her growing excitement. "I'd like to help with that still… if I'm allowed." She said as levelly as she could manage, but she was sure some shaky excitement peeked through.

A small smile came upon Link's face then, "Great. You can talk to Cole about the details… you know I don't really have a mind for this sort of thing." She nodded, failing to keep her smile hidden. Her father simply nodded back and then retreated out of her room.

When he was gone, she closed her book and stood up excitedly. A wide grin had come upon her, and paced her room back and forth, already planning out the intricacies in her head. She could get her old life back, no one would think she was crazy! She wheeled around on her heel to pace again, but froze. For a moment, she saw something fly past – something like a black bat. And she was filled with dread again.

Even though the little Beholder only flew past, going to wherever it was assigned to go and not pay any attention to her… it only proved to her that her life could never go back to the way it was. She couldn't ignore the fact that Vaati was loose, and had been loose. No longer did she have the ignorance that he wasn't there. He was. And there was no going back to normal now that she knew.

Guys, we need to have a talk. About Poe and the details of his servitude to Vaati. First of all, when Vaati enthralled Poe, all he did was switch up Poe's loyalties. He is a servant, not a slave, despite what Vaati or Poe himself may say. He has his own opinions and thoughts, and certain actions he undertakes are his own. Let me be very clear here: Poe is a murdering bastard because Vaati allows for him to have that outlet. His murders are not done on Vaati's orders. That being said, I am being ambiguous on Poe's level of actual attachment to Zelda, partly because I'm not so sure what they are myself.

With that aside, I'm rather pleased with last chapter's reception. Here I thought I was being mild with the violence, but apparently not. Pats on the back for me then. XD This chapter however... I'm kind of sketchy on it. Half of it followed my outline, the other half not so much.

Swamp Dragon Princess, Poe is not possessed. His actions are his own. I've always written him as a serial killer in the making though; I certainly did in Reversal and he had no interaction with Vaati there. He murdered Shiro simply because he hated him and was looking for any excuse to get rid of him. Vaati, himself, does not list out any specific people for Poe to kill, because Vaati, as I imagine him, isn't that type of person. The murders are done on Poe's own time. As for Malink, yeah, I find myself really beginning to dislike non-canon Zelink. If its canon, then I'm okay with it. If its not then I get kind of upset about it, but then again it's mostly because a lot of the rabid Zelinkers out there don't have very good reasoning behind it and thus turn me off to it. D: But yeah, thanks! Then again, the Malon I'm writing is not the young adult or child Malon we usually see. Here, she and Link are, after all, in their forties or so.

Rose, I've always said that he may be treated like the buttmonkey of a lot of fics he's in, but he's really not. XD

fleets, I actually thought I was being rather mild, believe it or not! There were times where I thought I wasn't being gruesome enough. XD And Poe always had that violent tendency. Then again, had it not been for Vaati, he probably never would have acted on any of these tendencies. I hope you're happy with badass Zelda here. XD

Hawkmask, fleets and I go way back. XD As for Poe, you have no idea how much you have honored me with your intense hatred of him. I did not want him to be a likeable character, and can only guess that things that have happened in this chapter may have made butts clench with "NO ZELDA NOOOOO DONT TRUST HIM." XD I can't tell you anything regarding my plans on Poe, obviously, but, if you ever fancy yourself browsing through some of my other stories, you'll find that he's not always been... well... alive. I don't consider that a spoiler because its just a fact. As for Eros and Psyche, probably one of only three or four Greek myths I actually like. Truth be told, I can't stand Greek mythology, if only because its so overdone. Probably why the only myths I like are so unknown. XD

Sapphiet, no, no he's not. And nope, no one does. And there's a reason I'm writing like that, hehe.